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A graffiti tagger who spent nearly a year behind bars is going back to jail for more than seven
months after violating probation and admitting that he tagged a Short North theater this month.

Seth M. King, 21, apologized in Franklin County Environmental Court today, saying his actions
were “all wrong ... I struggle on a daily basis to turn my life around.”

Judge Harland H. Hale told King that it gave him “no pleasure, no fun at all, to put you back
(in jail). It’s the only choice you’ve given me.”

Hale sentenced him to one year in jail in February 2011 after King pleaded guilty to three
counts of graffitism for spray-painting his tag — SEED — on buildings in Clintonville, the
Northland area and the University District.

King was released in December, got a job and was paying restitution to the property owners.
But he wasn’t complying with the court’s order to perform community service, so the judge was asked
to revoke his probation this month.

Before the judge could act on the request, King was arrested Aug. 10 by police who spotted
him spray-painting the back wall of the Garden Theater, 1187 N. High St., at about 2:20 a.m.

King ran from officers and was apprehended on W. Greenwood Avenue just west of N. Wall
Street. The officers said he smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. They found the tip of a
spray-paint can in his front pocket and paint markers under a pickup-truck where King tried to
hide.

He pleaded guilty today to one count of graffitism and one count of possessing criminal
tools, both first-degree misdemeanors. As part of the plea agreement, Assistant City Attorney Bill
Hedrick agreed to drop charges of obstructing official business and underage drinking against King,
who was 20 at the time of the incident.

Hale sentenced him to 223 days in jail for the probation violation. He placed him on
probation for five years in the new case and said he will send King to jail for another 180 days if
he violates probation again.

The judge also ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service and pay restitution to
the theater. He still owes $1,372 in restitution to property owners in the original case.

King told the judge that he has found a lawful outlet for his artistic skills.

After his release from jail, he hopes to get an apprenticeship as a tattoo artist.